A Valley Teacher Fighting for REAL Reform

By Jon M. Lauritzen

Jon M. Lauritzen; Candidate for Board Member; Los Angeles Unified School District ; District 3

First of all, I want to thank you for the opportunity to serve our community as your school board member. Thanks to your support and confidence in me over the last four years, our LOCAL schools have made incredible strides in academic performance and student achievement. In fact, EVERY SINGLE SCHOOL in our district has improved test scores since I took office. The truth is, although some districts are struggling, OUR local schools, the schools under my leadership, ARE getting better, and I am proud to have been able to facilitate this success.

My 35 years of experience as a teacher taught me that real education happens where the kids are... in the classroom, not in the halls of power downtown. That's why I have worked hard to successfully cut wasteful spending and to put more money into our classrooms so our kids can learn. I called for and sponsored an independent audit of all school district spending to identify waste, fraud and abuse. I voted against wasting another hundred million dollars on the Belmont Learning Center Fiasco, and have worked hard to keep our district accountable to taxpayers. And I have fought + and will continue to fight -- any politician who tries to divert our Valley tax dollars to schools in other parts of the city.

But cutting wasteful spending isn't enough. We must spend our tax dollars wisely, and that takes the kind of real, on-the-job experience that only 35 years in the classroom can provide. Throughout my first term, I have used my experience and skill as an educator to target programs that really make a difference for our kids. I fought for the Valley's fair share of money to repair and build schools in order to reduce classroom overcrowding. I doubled instructional time for our youngest learners, and revitalized job training and vocational technical training to prepare students for the job market. I adopted a strong college prep curriculum, with emphases on career and technical education and dropout prevention.

But there is still much to be done. In my second term, I will increase the already vigorous pace of school reform in our district. We must continue our efforts to reduce overcrowding by building and repairing more local schools. We must continue our efforts to improve performance by promoting increased parental involvement, more computer technology and vocational training, and by establishing more apprenticeship programs with local businesses and industries to provide students with firsthand experiences in the job market.

And we must continue our efforts to improve school safety. I will work with my colleagues to fund more after school programs to provide safe alternatives to drugs and violence, and to develop a consistent discipline policy for our public schools that will support teachers when they remove students for disruptive behavior. And I will work with city officials to establish gang-free zones around our schools.

The bottom line, I am the candidate for School Board with knowledge, experience, and commitment to getting the job done for our kids. That's why I am the candidate who is supported by over 42,000 local classroom teachers. Teachers know that I know the challenges our schools, teachers and students face on a daily basis, and they trust me to continue working with them to make our schools the best they can be. I would be honored to have your continued support + and your vote + on March 6.